Musical Moments #47
“A romantic who felt at ease in the mould of classicism and who was able to solve, with an elegance and imaginativeness peculiar to himself, the most difficult problems of form.”
Pablo Casals
Elijah (Excerpts)
Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy (1809-1847)
The oratorio Elijah is personal for the Bach Festival Society. It is a favorite of our Choir and Orchestra, but its performance had to be cancelled this spring due to the Covid-19 virus. Don’t distress, however; we promise to reschedule as soon as circumstances allow. This piece is chocked full of magnificent arias and choruses, and while today’s offering is a bit longer than usual, it is with great restraint that we provide only a representation of this masterpiece of masterpieces.
Mendelssohn was born with a silver spoon in his mouth, a fortunate circumstance that allowed his family to enhance his natural abilities. He was truly brilliant, a prodigy who was provided a first-class private education at his home in Berlin. In addition to his musical talents, he was a good painter, wrote beautifully, spoke five languages, and was reportedly charming and made friends with the likes of Prince Albert and Queen Victoria, among other prominent figures.
Mendelssohn loved the music of J.S. Bach and was largely responsible for championing the composer and the subsequent resurgence of his music. His performance of St. Matthew Passion in 1829, in fact, is credited with resurrecting Bach’s music and legacy.
One might find it curious contemplating whether Mendelssohn’s three major choral works reflect his conflicted religious beliefs. He was born into a historic, important Jewish family—the grandson of Moses Mendelssohn, but he lived most of his life as a Lutheran. The text of his first big oratorio, St. Paul, came from the New Testament. Paul himself was Jewish before becoming an early leader of Christianity. Mendelssohn’s next work, Walpurgis Nacht, featured text by Goethe that describe pagan rituals and is not flattering to Christians. And of course, Elijah is about an Old Testament prophet. In an 1838 letter, Mendelssohn portrays Elijah as a “thorough prophet, …. energetic and zealous but also stern and wrathful.” He believed Elijah’s story to be a perfect subject for an oratorio.
After St. Paul had such success at its premiere in 1832, his friend Karl Klingemann discouraged Mendelssohn’s interest in writing another oratorio. The appeal for such a work was never far from his mind, though, and when the Birmingham, England Music Festival contacted him in 1845 to write a new work, he gladly accepted the project. In part, inspired by the examples of Handel’s and Haydn’s lasting appeal, Mendelssohn’s reason for creating this large-scale choral work was to have it remain in the British choral repertoire for generations,
The librettist for Elijah was Reverend Julius Schubring who tried to impose his New Testament evangelical beliefs into the old testament story. There were reports of many disagreements, but Mendelssohn held his ground and refused to make it anything but true to the Biblical story. Once he began the composition in January of 1846, he worked feverishly and completed Elijah in August of that same year, nine days before the first performance.
The premiere on August 26, 1846 with Mendelssohn conducting was a smashing success. He then apologized for what he called his “dreaded disease” which meant he would begin revising the work. After major alterations, the version we perform today was sung in English in London on April 16, 1847, slightly more than six months before his death.
Mendelssohn wrote the soprano solo part especially for Jenny Lind, the famous singer known as the Swedish Nightingale who was brought to America by P.T. Barnum. Research published in 2013 discloses correspondence between Mendelssohn and Lind confirming an aspirational intimate relationship that was probably not realized due to his untimely death. Lind was emotionally unable to sing the role written for her until a later time, but she did establish a scholarship in homage to Mendelssohn to encourage young compositional promise with the first recipient being none other than Arthur Sullivan.
Whether you refresh your memory on the story of Elijah or just listen to the excerpts for its sheer musical elegance, what follows below are the movements offered today. (Around 30 minutes of the work’s two hours and thirty minutes.)
Intro: “As God the Lord of Israel Liveth”
Recitative: “Ye People Rend Your Hearts”
Aria: “If with All Your Hearts”
Chorus: “Blessed Are the Men Who Fear Him”
Chorus: “Baal, We Cry to Thee”
Aria: “It Is Enough”
Chorus: “He Watching Over Israel”
Chorus: “He That Shall Endure to the End” (*My pandemic theme song!)
Chorus: “Go, Return Upon Thy Way”
Aria: “For the Mountains Shall Depart”
Chorus: “Then Did Elijah the Prophet Break Forth”
Aria: “Then Shall the Righteous Shine Forth”
Chorus: “Then Shall Your Light Shine Forth and Lord Our Creator How Excellent Thy Name.
The two fabulous soloists featured today are baritone Richard Zeller (Elijah), and tenor Robert Bracey with the Bach Choir and Orchestra from a 2009 performance.
John V. Sinclair
“…. words seem to me so ambiguous, so vague, so easily misunderstood in comparison with genuine music, which fills the soul with things a thousand times better than words.”
Felix Mendelssohn
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